The Demon King Lacrimosa
I have lost everything which is dear to me... I am... Lacrimosa.
Appearance
Lacrimosa appears to be a short, rotund, balding middle aged man. His looks are rather plain and he radiates none of the majesty one would expect from the king of all demons. He dresses inconspicuously and the only outward clue that he might be an infernal entity is the bloody red of his eyes and the pair of small vestigal horns which have pierced through the skin of his forehead.
History/Background
Lacrimosa began his life as a human wizard whose name has been forgotten to history. His magical abilities were limtied and unremarkable, but one day he stumbled upon a scroll written in an forgotten language. Over the next several years of his life, he translated and studied it.
"Herein lies the ultimate achievement of the demonologist Aidram-To he who reads this, fear not evil. To he who reads this, evil shall fear you."
The scroll contained an ancient spell which would destroy any demon, and the wizard began to use it to destroy many evil spirits which had haunted the kingdom in which he lived. He gained great reknown as a slayer of demons, but he also attracted the attention of the Demon King, Zaalmonath. Unknowing of the potency of Aidram's spell, he brought the wizard to his inner sanctum to utter destroy this upstart sorceror.
The wizard killed Zaalmonath, and in doing so, unwittingly took his place as the king of all demons. The wizard ordered Zaalmonath's minister to bring his family to him-If it was his fate to rule the underworld, he would at least bring those he loved to accompany him. The minister, being of the opinion that a human should hardly rule the demon world and knowing that it was the only way to bring someone to the underworld, murdered the wizard's wife and young son.
The wizard's wife and son were good people and innocent, and so they did not descend to the underworld. When the wizard discovered that he had damned himself to an eternity without those he loved, he destroyed the minister and took the name Lacrimosa, which means "the weeping one" in the language of the demons.
Roleplaying Notes
Lacrimosa is a member of a given world's cosmology and is unlikely to directly influence any particular adventure (unless a hero or villain draws the attention of the demon nobility). He is an entity of great power, having all the abilities of previous demon kings and the power to slay other demons at will. He has little will to continue the underworld's ongoing war with the heavens and an uneasy peace has settled in the millenia since he ascended to the throne. He has no qualms with the demons converting those with impure hearts to the cause of evil (the average demon agenda), but when they turn to good people, especially devoted family men, he has a tendency to punish those responsible with terrible speed. Lacrimosa continues to govern the underworld out of necessity—he believes that if he helps to maintain the balance between the underworld and the heavens, then he might be reunited with his family at the end of all worlds.
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? Responses (18)
I like him, someone who never wanted to become a demon.
An excellent first post sverigesson! The power level of the spell makes it feel like a fable.
I am curious as to what you meant by '..particular adventure (unless a hero draws ).'?
Whoops, my apologies, sometimes my brain shuts down in mid thought and I go right on to the next sentence! Let me quickly fix that.
A very solid, very useful submissions. A good twist to add to any cosmology.
I would of liked to have seen how this demon kind reigns in hell, and how demon kind has changed under his reign. If he exists, how does he impact all things?
Also how sad is he? DO we have a morose demon king? Do we have a bitter man who is not offing demons (because he can) for every little offense. Has he become a demon in all but birth? He is their king, he could stop all of them from doing Evil on the world, so why is he still allowing them to run loose?
I am giving it an extra bump in score because it is your first submission. Nicely done, would like to see more.
Thanks Moon, and might I say I'm a big fan of some of your stuff here. I would like to flesh this whole cosmology out more, so there may be more related subs in the works soon. As for Lacrimosa, I imagine that his reign has brought an uneasy peace in the war between the heavens and the underworld... He does what he must, but he has no stomach for making war on the heavens (where his family is, btw... certainly wouldn't want to accidentally harm them in any way) and little patience for those would defy him in this regard. He lets the demons go about their business for the most part (gathering new wicked souls to join the ranks, the average demon agenda), but when they attempt to convert good people to evil, especially family men, he has a tendency to punish the responsible party rather severely. Anyways, maybe I'll update this, or maybe I'll just flesh it out more in other entries. Thanks again, Moon, for taking the time to post on even the lowliest newbie's sub!
I don't know - I kind of preferred it vague, if only because I could see a large number of ways that he could turn. Does he try to maintain his positions from life? Is he so morose as to be apathetic, letting demons run more loose than ever (which could be a great plot hook)? Does he, that he might be reunited with his loved ones sooner, actively seek the destruction of the universe? Perhaps in his melancholy he travels to the world, and, merely by being a demon, brings pain and suffering, when all he wants is some semblance of his old life back.
Updated: Updated with respect to MoonHunter's comment. Thanks, Moon.
Might I recommend the Demon Freetext?
A nice solid first post. The concept of a Lord of Hell who is not really evil is kinda attractive, making a Picasso out of "standard" fantasy demon-lore. This is, obviously, a good thing.. The post could be expaned upon, though - I feel it is a bit sketchy in places. Other than that, good job!
Välkommen till Strolen!!
/David (another son of sweden..)
Tack! Jag kommer inte fran sverige men min farfars far komde darifran. Jag studerade svenska pa Michigans Universitet.
Anyways, thanks for the comments. I hope to get to know all of you better and become a contributing member of this community.
P.S. Sorry for my lack of vowel accents... hard to do on a plain keyboard sometimes.
Tjenare Sverigesson?
This submission is well written and presented, but there is something that I just dont like about it, I can see Lacrimosa ascending to the leadership of the demons, but it brings up some questions:
Are all the demons part of a single over-arching heirarchy? If so, why? If not, why havent the other demonic factions whittled Lacrimosa's hordes down?
Why have no other demons attempted to depose of Lacrimosa? SO he has a spell that can destroy any demon, but how many at a time, could two assassins kill him, or an army of them, or could he be poisoned? (Holy water in his baby-blood soup?)
THis just rather reminds me of a game a decade ago where the junior DM ran a vampire game, but the vampires in question, us the PCs could go out in the daylight, and didnt have to drink blood. It was... lame.
Thanks for commenting, Scrasamax! (I feel privileged to have so many respected members of the community reading my first post!) Yes, I admit, for this post to be fully appreciated I really must flesh out the cosmology I had in mind when I posted this sub. Yes, I imagine that all the demons are by default united in a heirarchy (which is not to say there may not be other evil entities not under their sway). And as for why none have managed to assassinate him--As I have said, he has both the strength and skills of previous demon lords, so he reigns for the same reason the previous king did... he was just that darn hard to kill, and it took a truly fiercesome piece of magic to bring him down. When another demon (or anything else, after all) strong enough to kill Lacrimosa comes along, then he will no doubt inherit Lacrimosa's spell, and be even more powerful. Which means if Zaalmonath ruled for 5000 years, then Lacrimosa will probably rule for 10,000, and his replacement might stay in power for 15,000. Just an example, of course. Anyways, if you read this, thanks so much for the comment! You guys are helping me tremendously, and I hope I only go up from here!
Not much else to add, except to say great first post!
Great submission. Evil by neccesity is a great concept. It would make for an interesting adventure to have a group of adventurers embroiled in hellish intrigue and power games with him on one side of it.
This is a good post; but the ways it could be expanded upon, they are legion!
I Echo Echomirage's comment:) This would do really well if expanded with LEGION. It is a great first post and I am looking forward too see more of your stuff.
Anything I could say was already said above. Solid post with potential for so much more.